


Silver

by The_Wonderful_Jinx



Category: The Black Tapes Podcast
Genre: Character Study, Drabble, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, One Shot, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-30
Updated: 2015-10-30
Packaged: 2018-04-28 22:26:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5107880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Wonderful_Jinx/pseuds/The_Wonderful_Jinx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex is gold and Strand is iron. Then what does that make Nic?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Silver

_Alex is gold, beyond a shadow of a doubt_ , he thinks as he watches her walk around the little garden outside the office window. Strand is by her side, smiling those signature wry grins of his. They're laughing about something. Alex must have said something funny. They go on walks like these when the weather is nice and there isn’t much to get done. They do it simply for the pleasure of being out and near each other. Nic notes that Strand smiles are wider when she’s around and in a pleasant mood. Actually, he he thinks Strand only smiles when she's around. _Everyone_ is happier when Alex is in a good mood. There's an energy that makes people gravitate towards her, like planets to a sun.

Yes, she is gold; pretty, bright, shining like the sun, valuable, and soft. The showman- well, show woman. Gold is malleable, good in some situations, but not all. Alex is kind, welcoming, and always ready to adapt and change course. She blends in with any situation, like an antique gold locket. But she’s been hardened and mixed with other metals to get this far in her career. She isn’t pure gold, but that’s alright by Nic. He knows her quirks and oddities - and she knows his- and is honored to be called a friend of her’s.

Strand was a tough call between iron and steel, but in the end Nic chooses iron as he and Alex watch Strand give a lecture in front of his graduate class. All eyes are on Strand, some in admiration and intense focus, one student looks like they might pass out from exhaustion. But no one dares fall asleep in fear of what Strand might say or do. Iron is durable and tough. It’s old fashioned, but it can be worked with. But it’s freezing cold on a bad day. Nic remembers the legends of faeries his mom would tell. The fae could be repelled by iron craft, cold iron specifically, whatever cold iron was depended who told the story. For Nic, it’s just pure iron, nice and simplistic. If it was blessed, even better.

Nic smiles when the students pack up to leave and Strand makes his way towards them, already dismissing the validity of whatever monster, spirit, or demonic item they were after now. _Iron fits him perfectly_ , he thinks as they make their way to the car, that the practical skeptic to be able to cleave through supernatural powers, like a proper iron sword should. (Though he would never dare call Strand simple). They’re safe around him, and  Strand is safe from whatever haunts his head when no one is around, protected by his iron-clad skepticism. 

“And what about me?” he says out loud to no one. He is alone in his apartment, his roommates are out for a night of drinking and debauchery. There’s nothing for him to do except wait for Alex and Strand to return from their out-of-town research. He stretches his arms out in front of them. The rings on his fingers catch the light of the moon. He grins. The rings were family heirlooms on his mother’s side, supposed to be passed down to the daughters. His sisters hated jewelry (on the account of a strange metal allergy), so his mom cut her losses and gave the rings to him. Some re-sizing and a bit of polish, the rings looked good as new. So clean they were, they could catch his reflection. He admires the twists, turns, and embellishments on each silver band. He can imagine an old wise man pouring his soul into these rings. 

"Silver is precious", his mother would always say with a knowing wink when her kids asked about the rings. People long ago knew of its powers. It was sacred to the moon and the gods associated with it. It could fell the mightiest of night’s creatures And, of course, it made for a great reflective surface. He remembers the silver hand-mirror that belonged to his grandmother, how she would bring it out wrapped in silk and satin, and show it to him and his siblings when they came over every weekend. Silver, like the moon, is mysterious, it can’t be exposed for to long or it begins to break down. Like gold, it needs tempering and stronger metals to endure. 

 _Yes, silver suits me just fine_ , he thinks. He wouldn’t have made it this far in his life without being the voice of reason for all the crazy stunts his co-workers pulled. He pulled the strings in the editing room. When he spoke, people listened to him. He was the stage manager, just shy of being god in the little office space. And, possibly what he liked best about himself, was that he could always show a person their better selves, to let them see what they wanted to see. 

_I might not be as showy as Alex or practical as Strand, but I can play the second fiddle._

He smiles at the thought. He falls asleep to the sound of the city at night, the moon light cutting into

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! I felt it was time that Nic got the spotlight (now that he has is own podcast) and what better way than to do a character study? Hopefully it's not too ooc.


End file.
